As Morski writes, the much loved Rijeka Kantrida pools, from where a gorgeous view of the Kvarner Bay can be seen, has caught the eye of the American swimming team, which arrived in Rijeka on the eve of the World Swimming Championships for their final preparations.
The USA national swimming team consists of 41 swimmers and 30 staff members, and preparations are underway at the Rijeka Kantrida Pools for the World Swimming Championships, which will be held in the Hungarian capital of Budapest from June the 8th to the 25th. The American national team chose the Rijeka Kantrida Pools for their preparations for the third time – they have already held their training camps in the City of Rijeka in both 2015 and 2017.
Olympic champions Ryan Murphey and Leah Smith, who are preparing at Rijeka’s famous pools for the third time now, are also preparing for the World Championships. Ryan Murphey is one of the best backstroke swimmers in the world: he is a multiple-time Olympic winner (Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021) and a multiple winner of gold medals at world championships, while Leah Smtih is a multiple winner of Olympic and world medals.
”The Rijeka Kantrida Pools, the construction of which was completed ten years ago, were specifically planned with the aim of providing quality conditions for training and competitions of athletes, as well as the recreation of non professionals, and the location of the swimming pool complex near the Adriatic Sea makes it one of the most beautiful in the entire Mediterranean,” Rijeka Mayor Marko Filipovic said at a press conference.
He stressed that the pool complex was primarily planned to provide quality conditions for people to play sport, swim and enjoy some recreation time, but also has its commercial note, especially in preparation for important international swimming competitions, which greatly contributes to the promotion of Rijeka and Croatia as a whole as tourist destinations.
In addition to the Americans, the Rijeka Kantrida Pools have so far been used by the national teams of Norway, Denmark and Austria, Japan, Estonia, Germany, Sweden, Latvia, Slovenia and the United Kingdom. In a recreational sense, the pools have been used by about 3.5 million users, or almost a thousand a day. The Singapore national team and the long-distance swimming team from Great Britain are also currently training in Rijeka. Rijeka as a city has continued to record some very good numbers in terms of water sports – in the first five months of this year, the city recorded 5% more reservations from different groups compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2019.
For more, check out our sport section.
